Hydrocarbon power plant.



A. BGEL HYDROCARBON POWER PLANT.

APPLLA'JJION FILED 00T. 30, 1906.

1,006,907 1 Patented 001.2411911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

v l 4 Q A. BGHI.

HYDROGARBON POWER PLANT. APPLIOATIQNHLBD 00T. ao,'1so s.'

Patented oet. 24, '1911.Y

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' Unirnn STATES' `rnilgiinr onirica.

ALFRED BCHI, OF WINTERTHUR, SWITZERLAND.

HYDROCARBON POWER PLANT,

' Specification of Letters Patent..

Patented oet. 2a, rari.

To all whom it may conccm:

Be it known that IALFRED BCHI, a citizen of the Republic of Switzerland, residing at Winterthur, Switzerland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hydrocarbon Power Plants; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The subject of my invention is a power plant for gaseous, liquid or solid fuels, in which the gases of combustion are brought to a temperature suitable for a turbine. This is done according to the present invention by the -pressure of the explosive gases being transmitted in a piston-cylinder system Iby an explosionor combustion-process to the main shaft, and by the waste gasesthen flowing to a .single or. multiple step turbine, the ,expansion in the piston-cylinders being'continued until the thus ensuing diminution of temperature of the combustion-gases, accompanied by the generation of energy, admits of their being fed to the turbine without water injection being needed. Inv the improved plant, moreover, there is 'connected in front of the piston-cylinder system a compressor which compresses the charging-mixture and cools it on the passage to the piston-cylinder system, for the purpose 'of obtaining as high a degree of compressionV as possible in the piston-cylinders, while avoiding self-ignitions with the explosion process.

One form of construction of t-he invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a section on the line A-V-B of Fig. 1.

The plant here shown comprises a system of four-cycle explosive piston-motors having eight water-jacketed working-cylinders a disposed symmetrically and with respect to their axes radially around a horizontalshaft b. In these cylinders are located the working-pistons c, connected'to the rods a3 which are secured to the parte carried by the shaftV b. This vpart e is a disk secured eccentri- 'cally to the shaft and against whose periphery the inner ends of the rods debut; and

to connect the rods to the 'disk a ring f is passed ,around the ends of all the rods in suchv mannerI as to 'admit of the said rod ends sliding on the disk in the direction of its periphery.

g is a turbine-compressor, the runningwheel of which is mounted onthe shaft b; h is the suction and i the delivery pipe, the latter being connected with and delivering gas mixture to and through a cooling apparatus This apparatus Awhich is of any desired or well known construction communicates with an annular compression chamber Z, and this again through passages m with the heads of the working-cylinders a.

n are passages connecting the heads of the cylinders with an annular collecting-chamber o, which is located between the workingcylinders and a working-turbine having several step-speeds whose running-wheel p is mounted on the shaft b. The collectingchamber 0 is provided with nozzles g directed toward the rst speed-step of the running-wheel p and is inclosed in or surrounded by a heat insulating chamber o.

The method of operation of the new plant is as follows: The turbine-compressor draws in charging mixture `at it and forces it through z' at a pressure of several atmospheres, whereupon the charging mixture is cooled, which depending upon the nature of the fuel is mixed with fuel before or behind the coinpresser, is cooled down in the apparatus lo and thus enters the compression chamber- Z in cooled condition. Out of the latter'the chargingA lmixture already compressed and mixed with, let it be assumed, gaseous fuel, during the rst stroke of the four-cycle explosive piston-motors is drawn by the pistons through the passages m and 'c' linder heads into the working-cylinders. ring the second stroke it is submitted in the cylinders to a second compression; during the third stroke it isignited to perform work in the piston-motors; and during thel fourth stroke it is expelled from the cylinders by the pistons and conducted as exhaust gas through the passages Vn into the collecting chambero. From this chamber the exhaust gases pass through the nozzles g to the blades of the turbinewhich has the runningwheel p, for the lpurpose of doing work in the same. The working pressures on the pistons c are transmitted to the shaft I) by the parts d e and f as rotary motion. As 1s 10 the explosive mixture direct to t e turbines,

and the blades in consequence of this high temperature which they can not withstand get damaged; or the working gases directly after ignition are cooled, for lnstance by the introduction of steam or air into the same, so

that there is a considerable loss of energy;V

With the new plant, on the other hand, it is seen from the above that a means is at disposal whereby, with rational utilization of the fuel, the working gasescan be conducted to the turbine at such temperature as to insure 'that the turbine blades do not get injured. The preliminary compression and the succeeding cooling of the combustible mixtureq are for thepurpose of enabling as high a degree of compression as possible in the working-cylinders of the piston-motors, so that the combustible mixtureV may be subjected to a working process which is theoretically as favorable as possible. The nozzles q are so constructed that they convert the pressure of the exhaust gases entering the chamber o into velocity, which may be done wholly or in part. In order to insure the most satisfactory working of the plant, the exhaust gases should be-introduced as continuously as possible intothe collecting chamber 0, thatis, the conditions of pressure and temperature in the nozzle chamber should be as far'as possible constant for a given load. v

It is obvious that the number and dimensions of the working-cylinders of the pistonmotors must'be selected according to the size of the plant to be erected.

In the example described it is assumed thatthe fuel is fed to the plant in gaseous form, ,but it can be employed in another form, such as liquid, vapor, or spray, depending upon the construction of the plant.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

`1. In combination, a shaft, a system of internal combustion-motors mounted symmetrically around the same, a working turbine mounted on said shaft, a collecting chamber located between the motor system and the turbine and connected by passages with the working-cylinders of the motors, means to prevent heat from escaping from'this cham ber, nozzles in the collecting chamber, directed toward the turbine, a compressor turbine whose running-wheel is mounted on the shaft, a suction pipe conducting tothe compressor, and a dehverypipe from the compressor'to said system of internal combustion motors. Y Y

2. In combination, a shaft, a system of internal `combustion-motors `mounted symmetrically around the same, a working turbine mounted on the shaft, a collecting chamber located between 'the motor systemy and the turbine and connected by passages with the working-cylinders of the motors, means to prevent heat from escaping from said chamber, nozzles in the latter directed toward the turbine, a compressor turbine whose running-wheel is mounted on the shaft, a suction pipe conducting to the compressor, a delivery pipe from the compressor to said system of internal combustion motors, andal cooling apparatus in said delivery pipe'. 3. In combination, a shaft, a system of internal combustion-motors mounted symmetrically around the same, a working turbine mounted on the shaft, a collecting chamber located between the motor system and the turbine and connected by passages with the working-cylinders of the motors, means to prevent heat from escaping from said champressing combustion air or mixture, an ap' paratus for cooling the air or mlxture during or after compression, 'a chamber in which the cooled a1r or mlxture 1s pressed,

a s stem of internal combustion motors inwhich the compressed a1r or mixture 1s1ntroduced, submitted to further compression,

ignited and expanded, a collecting chamber' in which the exhausts from said internalv Y combustion motors are delivered, nozzles in the collecting chamber, and a workingv turbine in successive conununication, ,said

nozzles being directed toward the turbine,

substantially as described.

5. In a hydrocarbon power plant, infcom bination, a turbine compressor forjooml pressing the air or`mixture during or after compression, a chamber in which thev air or f mixture `is pressed, a system of internall combustion motors in which the compressed air or mixture is introduced, submitted tof further compression, ignitedlandVv expanded,

a collecting chamberin which theexhausts from said internal combustion motors are,y

delivered-,--'means to prevent heat from escaping'fromrthschamhermozzles inthe colf` `lecting chamber, and a power turbine 0pmeans to prevent heat from escaping from` said chamber, nozzles in the collecting chamber directed toward the turbine, av turbine compressor having a running wheel mounted on said shaftto compress combustion air or mixture, a suction pipe conduct-ing to said compressor, a delivery pipe from the compressor to said system of explosion motors, and a cooling apparatus in said delivery pipe for cooling the combustion air or mixture during or after compressiom'substantiallyas described.

7. In combination, a shaft, a system of eX- plosion piston-motors mounted symmetrically around the same, a working-turbine mounted on the said shaft, a collecting chamber located between the said motor system and the turbine and connected by passages with the workingcylinders of the motors, nozzles in the collecting chamber, directed toward the turbine, a turbine cornpressor whose running-wheel is mounted on the said shaft, a suction pipe conducting to the said compressor, and a delivery pipe from the compressor to said system of eX- plosion motors, and a cooling apparatus in said delivery pipe, substantially as described.

8. Incombination, a shaft, a system of eX- plosion piston-motors mounted symmetrically around the same, a working-turbine mounted ont-he said shaft, a collecting chamber located between the said motor system and the turbineland connected by passages with the working-cylinders ot' the motors, turbine nozzles in the collecting chamber, directed toward the turbine, a turbine compressor whose running-wheel is mounted. on the said shaft, a suction pipe leading to the said compressor, and a delivery pipe from the compressor to said system of explosion motors, a cooling apparatus in the said delivery pipe, and .an annular compression chamber communicating with the delivery pipe and with the said working-cylinders, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my naine in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED BCHI.

lVitnesses:

HERMANN GRAF, A. LIEBERKNEGHT. 

